Developers of indie puzzle game Orgynizer have claimed that Unity said organisations like Planned Parenthood are “not valid charities” and are instead “political groups.”

In a blog post, the EU-based developer LizardFactory said the plans to charge developers up to $0.20 per install if they reach certain thresholds would cost them “around 30% of the funds we have gathered and already sent to charity.”

As Unity clarified the runtime fee will not apply to charity games, LizardFactory reached out to the company to clarify their game would be exempt from the plan.

However, Unity reportedly said their partners were not “valid charities” and were viewed as “political groups.”

Profits made from the game go directly to non-profit organisation Planned Parenthood and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Michigan.

“We did this to raise money for a good cause, not to line the coffers of greedy scumbags,” the developers wrote in a blog post. “We have been solid Unity fanboys for over ten years, but the trust is scattered all over the floor.”

The developers are considering a move to open-source game engine Godot, “but we will have to recode our entire game because we refuse to give you a dime,” they wrote. “This is a mafia-style shakedown, nothing more, nothing less.”

Today, Unity responded to the ongoing backlash and apologised, acknowledging the “confusion and angst” surrounding the runtime fee policy.

The company has promised that changes to the policy will be shared in “a couple of days.”

  • @Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    1241 year ago

    “not valid charities” and are instead “political groups.”

    Only the Insane Christian right fanatics would call Planned Parenthood a political group!

    Insane is the new normal in right wing America.

  • Jaysyn
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    611 year ago

    Devs may as well bite the bullet & switch engines mid development now, because I’m not buying any new games made in Unity.

    • @Serinus@lemmy.ml
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      131 year ago

      I’m excited for the push this is gonna give Godot. Wouldn’t mind it becoming the mainstream engine.

    • eltimablo
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      31 year ago

      There’s also O3DE, though I don’t know what kind of state it’s in.

  • @IntergalacticTowel
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    341 year ago

    Some alternatives to Unity with:

    • Godot - GDScript, C#, 2D/3D
    • Defold - Lua, 2D/3D
    • Stride - C#, 2D/3D
    • Bevy - Rust, 2D/3D
    • Armory 3D - Haxe, C, C++, Rust, WebAssembly, JavaScript, Logic-Nodes, 3D
    • O3DE - Lua, Script Canvas, 3D
    • Flax Engine - C#, C++, Visual Scripting, 3D

    And Unreal, of course, if you trust big corps.

  • Computerchairgeneral
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    311 year ago

    Unity really just keeps stepping on rakes right now huh? Can’t wait to see how they manage to make this situation even worse before it’s over.

  • Obinice
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    231 year ago

    Unity being run by those mental Christian Fundamentalist Americans now?

  • Bappity
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    191 year ago

    I’ve got to say, seeing all these big companies with shit management making shit decisions this year has been great.

    • @Comment105@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I’ve heard people correct this as “Unity didn’t shoot themselves in the foot, they shot themselves in the chest.”

      And I agree, they didn’t just fuck up and get badly hurt. They’re dead. On life support if they’re lucky.

      Nobody sane will trust this company with their work now.

    • @orrk@lemmy.world
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      -31 year ago

      I don’t care what anyone else says, I think they are a standup company, in their own way. (also a southerner)